What do celebrations of 23 July mean to today's Egyptians, asks Dina Ezzat "There is an official celebration and some programmes on TV but that hardly does the July Revolution justice. We should have a big celebration like the one France has for the 14 July Revolution." Mohamed Mustafa El-Maqashati, a 22-year- old Cairo University graduate of politics, clearly feels that the July Revolution is not given its rightful due. "The problem seems to be," he adds, "that not many people seem to give much thought to the revolution these days." Nihad Abdallah, a 32-year-old computer engineer, agrees. "When I watch the movies or listen to the personal accounts of those involved in the revolution, or when I hear stories about the king and the poverty and corruption that used to prevail I realise just how much the revolution tried to do. But," she adds, "we take a great deal for granted these days." Since the death of Gamal Abdel-Nasser in 1970, the man whose name will be forever linked with the revolution, celebrations of 23 July have become increasingly low-key. From being a major event in the life of the nation, 23 July is now little more than one public holiday among many. The declining prestige accorded to the celebrations began, say many, with Nasser's successor, Anwar El-Sadat. "Sadat would have been happier, perhaps, if we had forgotten it all together. He wanted to build his own legitimacy, away from that granted by a revolution so closely associated with Nasser," says Mohamed Fayeq, one of the Free Officers and now chairman of the Arab Organisation of Human Rights. That situation began to be reversed under President Mubarak, believes Fayeq, though there is "much to be done before the day which, after all, encapsulates our sense of national pride, receives its due." Fayeq is not alone in criticising the history curriculum, along with state-run radio and TV, of insufficiently informing new generations of the significance of the revolution and its goals. On the 53rd anniversary of the July Revolution Al-Ahram Weekly took to the streets in an attempt to assess just how people view the revolution, its legacy and impact on contemporary Egyptian society. The majority of those responding to questions seemed happy to mouth the kind of clichés familiar from TV talk shows celebrating the event: an important day in the history of Egypt; the day when Egyptians ended the occupation; a day that all Egyptians should be proud of. Questions about Gamal Abdel-Nasser provoked similarly clichéd responses: a great leader; leader of the revolution but also the man responsible for the defeat of 1967. In general, though, those approached -- aged between 20 to early 50s -- seemed less than keen to talk about the July Revolution. On the official level annual celebrations of the July Revolution include a presidential statement paying tribute to the revolution's leaders and achievements. The president traditionally attends the annual celebration staged by the Ministry of Defence while national papers run opinion pieces on the revolution and its impact on Egyptian society, and radio and TV air nationalistic songs and re-runs of films produced in the 1950s and 60s. While this year's July Revolution celebrations were inevitably overshadowed by the terrorist bombings in Sharm El-Sheikh, few observers would disagree that, with the exception of the 50th anniversary in 2002, the day generates little national enthusiasm. "This reflects less a decline in public interest," argues Fayeq, "than the manner in which the revolution has been misrepresented." "Celebrating the July Revolution," he says, "should be first and foremost a celebration of its guiding principles and goals. It should be about social justice and that has now turned into a global demand, as witnessed by massive anti- globalisation demonstrations. It is about independence from colonialism, and that, too, is once again hitting the headlines, albeit in a different guise, and it should be about fostering closer Arab ties." Egypt under Nasser saw the introduction of free education and health care, major land reforms and the nationalisation of financial and industrial concerns. Critics of the revolution, though, decry the level of political and human rights allowed by the new regime, and point to the appalling condition of today's public sector. "Those who criticise the revolution for building the economy around nationalisation have to remember that the 1973 War was fought by a government that depended on the economic support of the public sector. And those who criticise Nasser for his tense relations with the West need to acknowledge that this tension was not something Nasser sought but rather a result of the West seeking to deny Egypt the means to build the High Dam," says Kamal Shatilla, chairman of the Lebanese National Centre for Strategic Studies. But remembering the revolution, say Fayeq and Shatilla, should not be about glorifying it. They may both be ardent supporters of 23 July but the best way to commemorate the events of that day, 53 years ago, they say, is to better analyse the revolution, its successes and its failures.
